Our busy life with an amazing veterinarian and cattleman, a gardening, quilting and history loving wife and mother, a creative perfectionist violinist, a spunky and kind epileptic princess, a sweet yet wild little man, and the most mellow and happy babe, on a joyful 1/2 acre living and loving in a beautiful mountain valley.

Monday, June 27, 2011

I had foot surgery on Wednesday to remove a few bone spurs that did not belong there and should not have been growing there! I have had them for years, but they have really been bothering me quite a bit lately. When Matt was in vet school I used to run alot. That is when my foot started hurting me, but a little rub down and warm water took care of the problem. It used to hurt me once a month and then went away quickly. In the past few years it would bother me once a week or so, but lately is has been hurting me alot more often and the pain would not go away. So I took matters into Dr Taylor's hands.

Wednesday Dr Taylor took the bone chunks out, I took drugs and slept for 2 days, and now all is well! I had a check up with him today and I was excited to see the incisions and how things are coming along. He is very pleased with how things look, and I am pleased with how I feel now that I don't need the drugs. I am still a little swollen, but things are good. I can walk almost normally and it is good to get outside again. I have to wear this sweet boot. I have been wearing it since the surgery, but now that I am up and at em, it is kinda funny. I get to stay with this sweet thing for another 9 days, which means I am going to look sweet while celebrating the 4th of July in Torrey, Utah!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

We drove back to Heber City from Salina this morning after a Saturday full of family fun and hauling hay. Our little niece Ashley was baptized and we had a delicious family dinner yesterday. Matt had to eat and run so he could get some hay hauled. He and his brothers hauled hay until dark so we spent the night unexpectedly in Salina. It was fun because the kids got to play with cousins all evening.

Anyway, we saw Mater this morning on way back home. He was parked outside the movie theater on Gunnison Main Street and it was the cutest thing I have seen all week, other than Emmitt sitting in the Tonka truck getting pushed down the road yesterday by his boy cousins. The kids loved seeing Mater and I have to admit, I thought it was pretty great too!

Friday, June 24, 2011

We all have household chores we don't like to do. I actually enjoy vacuuming, laundry, and weeding. I despise dusting, bathrooms, and mopping. My sweet Kelsey is getting old enough to be truly helpful in many ways. She mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors for me the other day without me asking. I loved it. She is quite the little neat freak too, so she loves to organize drawers, and anything else that seems like it is a mess. My friend Amanda does not like laundry. She hates it worse than I hate doing bathrooms. She had a huge tub of socks - all clean and unmatched. Kelsey's organizational skills kicked into overdrive and she matched and folded socks for an hour and a half and got through the tub. She is amazing and a joy to have around!

Oh, just for fun and so I won't forget: The three kids were playing today and Emmitt was causing some trouble as the two girls were doing puzzles. Kendal said "Emmitt, you need to move or we will get a new brother." She was quickly reprimanded and Emmitt was allowed to help put the puzzle together.

Friday evening before our big Saturday at Fort Douglas, we had a ball. It was wonderfully fun! Old Glory Vintage Dancers do a fantastic job of calling and teaching us dances. We had a nice turnout. About half of those that attended were from the Utah Civil War Association group, and the other half were just folks that heard about it and came out for the evening. These two pictures here were ones the Salt Lake Tribune fellow took. They turned out pretty good. I am in the light brown dress, so up above you can see the front of me, Amanda, Steve, and Austin, and then the below picture shows the back of me and my fluffy hair.

These are just a few of the pictures I took at the ball. I always tell myself that I will take more pictures, but I seem to enjoy myself too much to remember to take pictures!

Here is the ball gown I had been working on all week. I should have had a picture taken somewhere other than this narrow hallway, but it was the end of the evening and I was in a hurry to get out of the dress! I finished the hook and eyes to attach the bodice to the skirt together while Amanda did my hair just a few hours before the ball! I used the Simplicity 2881 pattern for the bodice of the dress. I already had the skirt, I just needed a ballgown bodice to go with it. I tweaked it a little bit to make it a bit more modest for me - the period correctness of the dress WAY off the shoulder is just a little too much for me! I also didn't add quite as much embellishments as the pattern suggests, because I am a bit more plain than fancy and that suits me the best. I think it turned out pretty good, and it was fun to wear. We had a fabulous evening at the ball. I love mid-1800 dances, they are so much fun. Hopefully I will have a few more chances to wear my new dress!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Our Fort Douglas Day event began Friday morning at 6:30 with Big Budha from Fox 13 News interviewing our soldiers and doing a few fun live clips. He ate hardtack and salt pork and was apparently not all that impressed Our boys were wonderful!

Amanda and I were supposed to do a little segment around 8:00 am about ladies fashion and promote the ball that evening. It was a little crazy being on live TV and I am a bit embarrassed about how it all turned out, but hey, it will be okay.

This photo was taken right after I slapped Big Budha across the face on live TV. Yeah, not very refined, but he asked for it and the camera man kept motioning for me to give it to him, so I did!

Amanda and I also did another short segment around 11:00 that morning. I talked just a little about the ball and tea time, and Amanda played some music for Big Budha. Our kids were so so so good. They just smiled, sat still and nicely, nobody picked their nose or yelled out, and all went so well!

Fort Douglas Day involved military from Revolutionary War up to modern military. Here are a few of our guys from the American Civil War and also WWII. They were great.

Friday evening was the Civil War Era Ball, and that will have to be another post, all by itself. The following pictures are from Saturday, the actual Fort Douglas Day event. It was a great day - the weather was more than perfect, the friends gathered were great, the public was fabulous, and my kids were pretty good. Kendal had a rough day though, but overall a great civil war day.

Kelsey played her violin a little bit and really did well. Her favorite listener was Dave, our previous UCWA president. He loves music and he loved hearing her play. She loved all the praise!

This one was at the end of the day - that is why I am sitting on Kendal. She was such a little stinker and pest, I had to give her some of her own medicine! Emmitt enjoyed Austin as his portable swing and buddy.

It was fun to spend part of the day with Heather and Jorden, fellow Ladies Aux. members. It was fun to chat with Jorden as she rolled bandages and Heather knit.

One very cool part of the day was when I went inside the museum to get a drink. This is what I saw. It was an amazing entire display of World War I uniforms. They were amazing. All of the other wars were well represented, I just got pictures of our civil war corner. The music coming from the WWII jeeps was wonderful - I love that era!

Amanda graced us and of course the public with a little music on her dulcimer. We love it, they love it, and we are all happy!

My sweet ones were good, and we had a fun fun day. I had to keep the sword away from Kendal, the chess pieces away from Emmitt, and the goober peas away from Kelsey! I am grateful however to everyone of my friends that helped with my children, that is one thing that makes our group so great.

The World War II boys got out a parachute and played around for a little while. It was awesome. There was just enough wind to fill the chute and make them dance a bit. I love the 40s era and really appreciate the WWII veterans that fought for our nation. How blessed we are to have such great military men and women who keep our flags blowing in free skies.

I do have to admit that one of my favorite parts of the day was when Kris, our UCWA president this year, pulled out his wooden bat and leather ball. I adored them, fondled them, and then asked him to pitch me a few. Yeah, very unlady-like in a big skirt and all, but I could not resist. After a few pitches, a few fouls, and a strike, I sent one out of the park. Really, it went in the road. Took me by surprise, took Kris by surprise, and I think everyone else that might have seen it was surprised. It felt good! What a fun fun day we had, thanks to all my historical friends!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Just a few picture of me and the little ones last week. Kelsey is really enjoying being out of school, but the weather has not been too summery yet. Kendal is chomping at the bit to play with the sprinkler under the tramp, but I have to wait for it to get a little warmer before that happens. Kelsey can't wait for it to warm up enough to do a lemonade stand. Emmitt has loved having the girls home all day too! Soon the days will warm up, but I must admit I love the coolness of it all right now!

Kendal starts summer school tomorrow. She was so sad that when the normal school year got out that summer school didn't automatically start. She is so excited; I hope it turns out to be a good day tomorrow. The bus picks her up at 8:00 (she has only ridden a bus once -to the zoo with me) and will drop her off at 10:10. I am so nervous for her for some reason, but she is cool as a cucumber.

So, since summer officially starts here in just a day or two, I send out happy summer wishes to all!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

This my friends, this is what will hopefully become a ballgown bodice for a ball this weekend. Cross your fingers that I can get it finished! For those interested, there is a civil war era ball on June 17th at the Fort Douglas Museum in SLC. There will be wonderful dance instruction, delicious company, and the news media! AHHH!! Everyone is invited to attend, and you don't need period correct clothing, so come and dance with us! Saturday June 18th is a day full of fun also.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Last week This is the Place Heritage Park had Huntsman Day, a day of free admission and ice cream. I have never heard of this day, but apparently everyone else has because I heard there were 10,000 of us there! Anyway, the kids wanted to go, so we did.

We saw a one room cabin where 13 people used to live, I think in Sanpete County. The boys slept in the loft upstairs, the girls slept on the rug in front of the fire, and there was one bed. It was good for Kelsey to see that and think about it. She complains about sharing a HUGE room with her messy sister, it gave her a little perspective. It gave me some perspective too.

Emmitt was so excited to ride the trains. He is such a boy - loves the trains, tractors, trucks, but he also had a pair of ballet slippers on yesterday!

We went to the Native American camp where there was a lady all dressed up and outfitted to the max in her gear. Kendal said to me "Mom, is that an alien?" It took me a half a second to understand what she was really saying, but I said "No honey, the word is Indian." Kelsey thought that was the funniest thing.

Kendal's favorite part of the day was going to the old school house. The teacher held class and showed them what the naughty kids had to do, and what happened when they forgot to do their homework. They recited the alphabet and talked about George Washington. She thought is was the greatest thing. She was so cute!

Kendal also really enjoyed listening to this group of talented kids, so did Kelsey. They played so well together. I don't think one of them was over 17, and the youngest girl looked to be about 14. They were so talented and it was so fun to listen to them. Just the night before the kids Skyped their grandpa and he played the banjo for them. This banjo player was amazing, well, they were all amazing. Kelsey liked watching the violin boy and Kendal wanted to play the mandolin for about 20 seconds, but then decided she wants to play the violin like her sister. It was a wonderful day for all of us and my kids had a blast.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Memorial Day Weekend was a super fun Civil War weekend for us. Friday was a HUGE school day adventure for a middle school in Salt Lake City. They did a fantastic job in their own preparations, and plus they invited us, the UCWA. It was a super fun hit.

Kimberli and her crew taught a few period dances. The 8th grade boys were silly about it, but they all truly did enjoy it.

Amanda got to play her dulcimer a bit and had an interested and wonderful crowd of students for most of the day.

Ephraim did a wonderful job of holding adolescent minds and talking about uniforms and the life of a civil war soldier.

Jamin, Kris, and Jake made lots of new friends!

The Phisters did a wonderful Union cavalry demonstration.

Scottie and Emmitt were the brains behind the operation.

Jack portrayed a Provost Marshall and Gail portrayed a working woman of the South.

Jorden, Heather, and Mr and Mrs GrantJorden operated the school house, Heather did fashion for the students, and the Grants taught dancing.

After we cleaned up our school day camp, we headed to Camp Floyd and set up. Camp Floyd was an actual Federal military camp in 1861. When the Civil War broke out, the soldiers traveled back home to the east and fought for their respective areas. Here is me and MaryAnn, the hat lady. My camera hit the dust after the school day event, so the pictures from Camp Floyd were stolen from my friends.

Kelsey was able to play a little violin for a bit.

Here is Steve, myself, Jimmy, and John
Why all the blue??

Me and Emmitt
The weather was not the best for the weekend adventure, but we made the best of it most of the time.

This is Traci spinning wool, one of the civilian group members that we sure enjoy.

Jack, Gail, Me, and Austin, my Southern crew.

This is Richard the barber. He is amazing and his place smells so good! I just wanted to take a whiff of every guy that walked out of the place!

We had a nice weekend. The weather was a little nasty and my friend Amanda could not stay for the entire weekend, but I sure enjoy all my reenacting friends and the good times we have together.